A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency by a former state science curriculum director who alleged she was illegally fired and that the agency's neutral position on the teaching of creationism was unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel dismissed the lawsuit by Christina Comer of Austin on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleged that her firing by state Education Commissioner Robert Scott in November 2007 was improper because she was accused of violating an "unconstitutional" policy.

The Texas Education Agency requires that employees to be neutral on the subject of creationism, the biblical interpretation of the origin of humans. Comer said in her suit that the agency's neutrality policy had the effect of endorsing religion, and thus violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution.

State attorneys said Comer was fired for sending out e-mails from the TEA Web site that gave the impression the agency supported the views of a lecture speaker, Barbara Forrest, who wrote a book critical of the tactics of creationists and their attempts to inject religion into science classes.